Standing the Test of Time

8/28/2018

Just the other day, it seems, Steve Hickman, Collegiate’s Head of School, stood tall behind the podium at Commencement and spoke earnestly and compellingly of optimism, courage, spirit, and gratitude.

He directed his remarks toward the members of the Class of 2018, of course, but, considering the climate of the times, his words provided grist for the mill for everyone in attendance.

“I challenge you,” he said on that beautiful late-spring Friday, “to fight against the urge to see things in the worst possible light or let current struggles diminish your love and hope for this remarkable and resilient country of ours.”

His message – solemn, uplifting, and inspiring – resonated that day. Eleven weeks later, it resonates still.

The new term is upon us. One morning recently, I joined him in his office to discuss his graduation address and his hope for the upcoming school year.

You cited historian Jon Meacham’s The Soul of America, notably, “Fear is about limits; hope is about growth.” What in that passage spoke to you?

For me, he captured well the challenges we are facing in our country right now. As I think about Collegiate, we can’t control in our day-to-day school life what happens outside these walls. We can, however, work together as a community to create a positive environment for our young people. Our tradition here has always been about hope and how that plays out in the life of the school.

How we model balance and perspective is important. There will be times that are more difficult than others, whether it’s in your personal life, your professional life, or in our country. It’s a matter of attitude. What kind of mindset do you have when you tackle life? Is it an optimistic one? To me, it’s finding the things we can control, finding the positives. How that translates to what we do here at school is helping our young people in learning how to be resilient and taking advantage of those challenging learning opportunities when they arise.

How can we instill resilience?

It’s a partnership of families and community and the School. It starts all the way down in Lower School. It’s okay to take risks. It’s okay to fail. What are you learning from those experiences? It happens on our playing fields. It happens in our classrooms. There are things we can be mindful of as we design the learning experience for our students that can help them learn the skill of overcoming obstacles and coming out stronger than they were before.

Kids leave here and often go to a different world. Are we preparing them well?

Yes, by helping our young people learn what it means to live in a community well. Hopefully, we’re producing young people who can go out and bring that to whatever community they’re in. A perfect example is the honor code. For generations, our students have bought into it. It’s a part of who they are and how they act. You can leave 500 bookbags around this campus and come back and they’re still there. That speaks to how much our young people trust each other and the high expectations that they have for each other. If Collegiate graduates model trust and act honorably wherever they go, they will make a difference and I would say we’re pretty successful.

What’s your hope for the school year with world events swirling and life so unpredictable? Do we need to change anything or stay the course?

The reason Collegiate has stood the test of time for over 100 years is more about its culture and values and what they teach our young people about life and how to succeed in life than where they go to college or what scores they have. Those intangibles make us who we are. Collegiate reinforces them day-in and day-out. In terms of our values, staying the course is very important. It’s worked for a long, long time. When we talk about responsible citizenship, that goes to the core of who we are. There’s nothing more important in our community than working together in partnership, helping to develop young people toward being responsible citizens.

-- Weldon Bradshaw

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